


We'll Find A Way Home

by prosaicwonder



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguity, Character Study, Fluff, Friendship, Future Fic, M/M, One Shot, Pre-Relationship, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-22 06:29:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11961645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prosaicwonder/pseuds/prosaicwonder
Summary: "You know how things change and sometimes, they just happen when you least expect it, and they don't work out the way you want them to?"





	We'll Find A Way Home

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to see more soft Klance and this ended up being the result. First time writing about these two so hopefully I got their characters right... also be warned that there are spoilers for season 3.

 

In space, time did not work the same way as it did on Earth. He'd grown used to the Altean terms that Allura and Coran mentioned every now and then - sometimes, he'd even use them himself - but occasionally Lance's mind would still drift back to his home planet. Whenever he awakened in his room in the castle, he'd wonder what day it was over there. He found himself questioning how many months (years?) had passed since he and the rest of the would-be paladins were flown away in a matter of minutes: away from Galaxy Garrison, away from his family, his home.

 

  
It was just as well that time progressed differently in space than it did on Earth, since all Lance knew was that it had taken him... a while, to adapt to the changes. He had eventually grown accustomed to their new regime: wake up, get dressed in full armor, eat food goo with the rest of the paladins, get to the hangar and go on whichever mission they were required for next. He was used to the Galra's sudden attacks and was ready to assist the team whenever they came unannounced. It was how war worked, after all.

 

  
Though it had been hard to adjust to so many changes, and sometimes Lance found himself wondering exactly why the Blue Lion had chosen _him_ instead of anyone else. He still hadn't gotten around to asking Allura about that, and still berated himself for not allowing her to finish her sentence on the day they had met. Now that there was so much they had to do, he never really got the chance to ask her: perhaps he'd never get the opportunity to do so.

 

  
He, along with the others on the team, had already been through so much; Lance would definitely have a lot of stories to tell if he managed to make it back to Earth one day. 'Good things can come from unexpected places' - he briefly remembered that quote from some movie he watched long ago. He supposed that he wouldn't have been taken on this whirlwind of an adventure if he hadn't snuck out of the Garrison, that he wouldn't have become the person he was now if he had just gone to sleep that night like a good fighter pilot...

 

  
And - somewhere along the line - a few other unforeseen things had happened, and Lance found himself drawn to the person he thought would be the _last_ one he'd ever find himself thinking about in that way.

 

  
He'd often fantasise about being the hero figure to others, to not just be idolised and admired but also to win the hearts of the ladies - at least, back when he had been younger and less mature he would do just that. Back when things were far simpler at the Garrison, Lance thought he had his life all planned out: he'd find someone pretty and worth protecting, and perhaps eventually settle down with that person one day. He always thought that _he_ would be the one who did the protecting, to be the knight in armor for the damsel in distress. And yet - somehow - the roles got reversed, and he found himself being the one who got saved by the same person over and over again.

 

  
From that time he and Shiro was just a few doboshes away from becoming Sendak's prisoners, to the time Lance nearly had Blue taken away from him after he'd been handcuffed to a tree; countless other moments had occured since the war had begun, but what was probably most surprising was that Lance found himself wanting to reciprocate those actions. He'd convinced himself that Keith was always just trying to gain the upper hand over him; after all, he was better at everything that Lance did. But he'd grown to accept the Garrison dropout as an equal and a teammate; gone was the petty one-sided rivalry and hostile feelings Keith evoked within him, and he found those things being replaced with the desire to protect his teammate and keep him safe.

 

  
'It's just so that we can all work together as a team,' Lance would convince himself when his thoughts would drift back to the topic. 'It's only this way so that we can be able to form Voltron. There's nothing else to it.'

 

  
There had been a lot on his mind since it had all begun, and, as the nights blurred into days and all of them had grown used to being around each other, Lance found that there were far more important things to deal with than his own insecurities. Those feelings never did truly disappear - sometimes he still felt like he was the only person on the team who wasn't contributing in any useful way - but he found himself not only getting over his jealousy of his new leader, but also seeking him out: not just to talk about whatever issues he was having but also to be there for Keith whenever something bothered him, too.

 

  
At some point during Shiro's absence, the two of them had grown closer, and Lance still finds himself wondering how it had even progressed to this point, since he would've never bothered to seek out Keith for any form of conversation when they were still on Earth.

 

  
But then the unexpected had happened, which eventually led them to where they were now: back when he had still harbored the feelings of one-sided rivalry, Lance would've never expected to find himself in _Keith's_ room, of all places. Even when they had ended up talking alone, they'd get straight to the point and have their discussion while standing close to the door. They got used to the pattern where one of them would go to the other's room to talk about mission-related topics; over time, their conversations had gradually branched into other matters, and then they had somehow ended up talking about more personal things and... Lance still doesn't know exactly how things turned out to be this way.

 

"What are you thinking about?" Keith suddenly asks, jolting him back to the present and diverting his attention away from the chaos in his mind. For the past half-varga, they'd been sitting side-by-side on the edge of the bed in Keith's room, and now, Keith's head is turned towards him as he sits with his arms crossed.

 

  
Lance looks at him then, and feels a surge of guilt upon seeing the look of concern on the other paladin's face before he sighs and looks down at his shoes. "Sorry. Just... had a lot on my mind."

 

  
"So you were actually thinking about something," Keith teases, and Lance can hear the smirk in his tone but he doesn't smile in return. "Well, now I kinda want to know what it's about."

 

  
"Well, I mean a lot of stuff has happened since this whole... thing started, right?" Lance replies then with a question of his own. He's aware of the hidden meaning in that question, but he silently hopes that the other will not mention anything about it.

 

  
"You mean the war," Keith says. It's not a question, but Lance nods silently in affirmation anyway.

 

  
"I just," Lance says, faster than his mind can process, and then he finds himself stuck on how to finish that sentence, so he begins again: "You know how things change and sometimes, they just happen when you least expect it, and they don't work out the way you want them to?"

 

  
"Yeah?"

  
"I was thinking about that. How... some things have happened which ended up being completely unexpected."

 

  
"And that must've taken a long time to think about, since you were staring at the wall for probably five minutes." Keith states dryly, causing Lance to let out a scoff in response.

 

  
"Pssh, I was thinking about a lot of things." Lance says, chuckling softly as he throws a fond glance at the other paladin. "Remember when we used to fight like all the time?"

 

  
"Yeah," Keith replies, and there's a soft look on his face which Lance secretly loves, and that odd sensation of something flipping in his stomach comes back because _he's_ the one who's able to make Keith look this way. "We weren't exactly friends back then."

 

  
"Oh, yeah." Another chuckle escapes from Lance's lips, and a bit of the tension disappears from the air at that. "I was pretty sure I hated you, actually."

 

  
"Did you?" Keith asks carefully, and Lance isn't sure if it's because of his tone or because of the words themselves, but there's something vulnerable in that question which makes Lance look up and acknowledge Keith properly. He's turned fully towards the other paladin, taking in the way Keith's eyebrows furrow and how his eyes narrow before they dart away from his gaze.

 

  
"No," Lance breathes out, placing a hand on Keith's shoulder so that his attention is back on him. It reminds them both of the time the Black Lion made its choice, when everyone was still hurting; only this time, they're both not hurting as much. "Never did. I thought I did for a while, but... I couldn't, actually."

 

  
"Then, why...?" Keith asks, and Lance wants to spill out everything there and then and just let his instinct take over for once. Instead, he takes in a breath and shifts so that he's looking into Keith's eyes properly.

 

  
"I was... jealous," he finally admits as he lets his hand drop from Keith's shoulder, and it feels as if something collapses within him; years of pent-up emotions being built up and expanding like a blown-up bubble until it finally pops. It's a relief when the words come out, and also when he's met with silence rather than anger or hostility.

 

  
"I never really felt like I achieved anything great in my life. Like, I was always there but not truly _there_. I mean, I wasn't exactly the best when it came to simulators, and sometimes I wonder how a simple boy from Cuba ended up being the one chosen for all these crazy adventures... I'm not exactly special, you know?"

 

  
A few moments pass after Lance finishes his last sentence, and Keith watches as he shrinks further into himself, his hands at his sides with fingers digging into the edge of the mattress as a small frown forms on his lips.

 

  
"Lance, that's..." _Not true_ , Keith wants to say, but the words do not come out the way he wants them to; they never do. He clears his throat before his gaze returns to Lance, and his heart clenches at the forlorn look on the other's face. He wants to say the right words, but he doesn't exactly know what's _right_ and has no idea on how to comfort someone else - let alone someone who had supposedly hated him for so long - so he decides to just be honest instead.

 

  
"You know that we need you," he settles on, before reaching out to place a gloved hand over Lance's bare one. "I do, too."

 

  
When the other paladin says nothing, Keith continues: "It's going to be okay."

 

  
"What if we never return home?" Lance suddenly blurts out, and then all the questions are tumbling out at once. "Do you think we'll die out here in space? ... How are we going to be able to undo ten thousand years of damage when we aren't even able to live for that long? Just how long is it going to take before the Galra decides to target Earth next?"

 

  
He's looking up at Keith now, with wide eyes and absolute panic written all over his face, and Keith imagines that if he also had something on Earth that he needed to protect, perhaps he would've reacted the same way as Lance did.

 

  
"Didn't I tell you before? Things will work themselves out," Keith then says, and a part of him notes that Lance has not moved his hand away from his own.

 

  
"It's happened before, and it will happen again. Besides..." he trails off, and his grip tightens on Lance's hand until their fingers are properly intertwined. He takes in the way Lance's worry turns into surprise, the soft gasp that emits from his mouth and his wide-eyed expression, before the corners of his own mouth curve upward into a gentle smile.

 

  
"We'll find a way home. All of us will." With those words, Keith pins Lance down with a stare, and - unbeknown to the former red paladin - the sheer confidence of it all manages to shatter any form of doubt within Lance's mind, though he does exhale in relief when, _finally_ , Lance is smiling softly at him in return.

 

  
"Now stop worrying and go to sleep already," Keith then says, breaking the moment and removing his hand from his grip on Lance's as he moves to stand up.

 

  
"Okay," Lance says before he gets up as well, and then the two of them are back at the door and facing each other like they had done all those times in the past. It's a familiar feeling, but somehow it's also different this time, because something unspoken has changed between them and that has yet to be addressed. A few ticks pass but neither of them make a move to speak; Keith's eyes are on him again, looking at him expectantly and with uncharacteristic patience.

 

  
"By the way, I meant it... you know?" Lance says, breaking the silence once again. "About not hating you and everything."

 

  
"Oh, yeah... I kinda, gathered." Keith says awkwardly, his gaze shifting towards the wall behind Lance. "If you still did, we wouldn't be like this now, right?"

 

  
"Nope," Lance replies, emphasizing the 'p' as he allows a small smirk to form on his lips. "I'm glad things turned out the way they did."

 

  
_Even if it wasn't what I expected_ , Lance adds mentally, and he giggles softly at the thought, causing the other paladin to raise an eyebrow and look at him quizzically.

 

  
"What?"

 

  
"Nothing, Team Leader." Lance replies airily, grinning as he takes a step closer towards the exit. The door then opens with a whoosh, exposing them to the passage outside. Keith wants to press on, to ask him what he's thinking about because he knows it's _not_ nothing, but he's too tired and he knows that he won't get a clear answer so he drops the topic. For now, at least.

 

  
"Okay. Well, I'm not sure what time it is exactly but, uh..." Keith trails off, before taking a step closer towards Lance and finishing the sentence. "Sleep tight, Lance."

 

  
"Awww," Lance coos, the corners of his eyes crinkling as a wide grin spreads across his face before he closes the gap between them, and he brings a hand forward to poke lightly at Keith's chest. "Did you just wish me goodnight?"

 

  
He's unsure of whether it's because of the action or because of Lance's words, but Keith blushes faintly then, and he lets out a huff as he moves to push the other paladin out of the room. "Just, go to your own room already."

 

  
"Alright, alright! Goodnight, Keith!" Lance sing-songs in return, his voice echoing down the hallway as he disappears from the other's point of view. He doesn't see the way Keith chuckles as the door closes in front of him, or the way Keith shakes his head with a fond smile as he turns to move towards the bed at the corner of his room.

 

  
But as Lance reaches the entrance to his own empty room, he feels lighter already, and it's probably what makes him return to the same place over and over again.

 

  
Perhaps things would work out in the long run, after all.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Kinda based on [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HR8k8Qi_4Q).


End file.
